HISTORY OF LAW REPORTING
State and Pearl Streets, Albany, N.Y. in 1805.
New York State Museum & Archives
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OFFICIAL LAW REPORTING IN NEW YORK
On April 7, 1804, the New York State Legislature enacted a statute that provided for the designation of an official reporter to publish the decisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature and the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors (precursors of today's Court of Appeals). George Caines, an accomplished author and attorney, was appointed to that position, and official law reporting commenced in New York. This year, as official reporting in New York celebrates its 200th anniversary, the Law Reporting Bureau, under the twenty-fifth State Reporter, continues the rich tradition of officially publishing the decisions of the New York courts.
Above: The April 7, 1804 law (L 1804, ch 68) creating the position of reporter. |
BEGINNINGS OF OFFICIAL REPORTING
During the colonial era and the early years of American independence, the common law was largely unwritten. Trial proceedings were rarely transcribed and judges did not hand down written decisions as a matter of course. The doctrine of precedent in the absence of American case reports required judges and attorneys to rely on their personal recollections of a case, with no effective means of verifying conflicting representations as to its meaning, significance, or outcome. While some copies of English law reports were available in the colonies and English common law was relied upon where appropriate, English precedent grew increasingly unsuited to the resolution of uniquely American legal issues. The diminishing practical significance of English common law and the outcome of the American Revolution ultimately inspired the development of American common law. Printed reports of judicial decisions increasingly were perceived as necessary to memorialize the substantive differences between English and American common law and to promote uniform administration of justice in America. |
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